Wednesday, 4 April 2012

Albert Unbound

The Albert Memorial is one of those things that I've often seen while passing by in a bus or a taxi. Or it's been there, lurking in the corner of my eye, while visiting somewhere nearby like the Royal Albert Hall or the various museums in South Kensington. Despite having lived or worked around London for more than 30 years I'd never actually visited the monument before. But today I was due to film a short video with the publishers Unbound in Kensington Gardens and they'd decided to rendezvous at the memorial. And I'm glad they did. I got there a little early and had a chance to have a damned good look at it (click on the photo to see larger versions):

It's an extraordinary, completely over-the-top, Gothic Victorian explosion. And it looks beautiful having recently undergone a massive restoration. There's gold everywhere, most notably covering John Henry Foley's and Thomas Brock's sculpture of Prince Albert which, for many years was black. All around the base there is the 'frieze of Parnassus' depicting 169 individual musicians and poets on the south side, painters on the east, sculptors on the west, and architects on the north. Henry Hugh Armstead carved the figures on the south and east side and John Birnie Philip carved the others. At the four points of the monument are magnificent group sculptures built around a large animal and representing the four great continents of the British Empire: Africa, Europe, America and Asia. Australasia doesn't feature as modern Australia only came into existence in 1901.

There are additional allegorical figures around the central 'Albert' area that represent agriculture, commerce, engineering and manufacture. And then there's that amazing, church spire-like ciborium that sits over the top of it all, decorated with beautiful inlaid Italian mosaics and even more friezes. Above that there are gilt statues of figures representing the sciences: Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry, Geometry (on the four pillars) and Rhetoric, Medicine, Philosophy and Physiology (in the four niches). Higher still there are eight figures that depict the moral and Christian virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity, Humility, Fortitude, Prudence, Justice and Temperance. Then, right at the top, there is a large gold cross and a gang of angels raising their arms heavenwards.

Following the restoration, the monument has been fenced off from the public but even the fence is a thing of beauty with golden curls and finials that mirror those on the monument.

The Albert Memorial is probably the closest thing we have in the UK to the Taj Mahal; a huge public statement about love and loss. Victoria commissioned Sir George Gilbert Scott to design and organise its construction in 1862 and it took 10 years to complete. The cost was around £120,000 which would equate to something like £10 million today. And yet the whole thing was paid for by the public. This was a nation mourning the queen's consort. Can you imagine that today?

Now, the reason I was there, as I said at the start, was to film a short video with Unbound. I won't reveal too much yet but, suffice to say, I will have a new book out shortly. As a teaser, here are a few photos from the day.

'This is not a stocking filler - this is a real book. Buy several copies and keep one' - Daily Telegraph

'Quite simply the best way to spend time when not shopping, sleeping or preparing food' - Tony Hawks (author of Around Ireland with a Fridge)

'Can I recommend a book? It’s Joined-Up Thinking by Stevyn Colgan. The book’s packed with great info, from the derivation of the phrase ‘letting the cat out of the bag’ to the name for the thin bits of a cricket bail. Spigots, since you ask' - Mark Mason (author of The Importance of being Trivial)

'He connects each piece of his trivia puzzle in a concise, chatty, easy to follow, even logical, manner. This free-flowing style does not, thankfully, lend itself to pause and evaluation, but does allow for a great deal of chuckling and chin-stroking. He is the master of the trivial, the collector and cataloguer of the forgotten and inane - but no matter how worthless and unnecessary the information, Colgan has the knack of making it all sound intensely fascinating' - New Zealand Herald

'Stevyn Colgan has a theory; everything in the world can be connected through 'six degrees of information'. Trying to prove it takes us up some strange alleys but his engaging style means we don't get stuck down the road of intellectual whimsy' - Maxim

'It's a very smart style to a trivia book, and will I am sure be one of the hits of the forthcoming season' - The Bookbag

‘Stevyn Colgan's book, 'Joined-Up Thinking', could well be turned into a pub quiz or even a TV show. The latter could be even more of a possibility as Colgan has connections to the 'QI' BBC TV show. You're going to walk away from this book knowing a lot more than when you started.’ - SF Crows Nest

'How Colgan manages to find all these connections, unravel them and create something coherent and entertaining out of them is beyond me. But I'm glad he took the time, as the result is vastly fascinating and had my mind whirring round after itself for hours - immense fun!' - Falmouth People

Also on Sale

Praise for Henhwedhlow

‘All power to Stevyn Colgan and his project to preserve Cornish myth, legend and song. Who knows; as a result some Penzance Wagner may write the Cornish Ring Cycle and won’t the world be pleased? There’s more to Cornwall than Padstow, pasties and ‘Piss off you grockles’ and Colgan is doing the ancient kingdom a great service.’ - Stephen Fry

‘Jumping from the 19th to the 21st century, Stevyn is taking an essential element of our Cornish culture and bringing it bang up-to-date. With the aid of the very clever artwork he aims to do this in a way that even kids sitting their exams will be tempted to bring the book to school so as to take an occasional peek under the desk for a spot of well-deserved humour.’ - Howard Curnow (Cornish bard and storyteller)

'The best book I've ever seen for helping you to learn the Cornish language or practice reading it. Brilliant fun too' - Cornish Voice